Urban Meyer, armed with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Cincinnati, is more of a forward-thinking strategist than any college football follower could have imagined. I always viewed him as one of a select few coaches in America capable of guiding a team with the gaudy expectations of the 2015 Ohio State Buckeyes. But that thought can be taken the next level now. After seven games, it is readily apparent that the season is unfolding as if Meyer had created it in a laboratory.

I touched on all the crazy expectations of the Ohio State football program in a previous article, and needless to say, it has proven difficult for the team to live up to all of them. For a team that made history by being unanimously voted as the No. 1 team in the country in the preseason, the Buckeyes’ performance thus far has seen those first-place votes steadily drift away to the likes of Baylor, Utah, TCU, LSU and Clemson. What was expected to be a weekly fireworks show of an offense has instead been somewhat of a  clunker, as the the team has struggled to impose its will on clearly inferior competition and only 2-5 against the spread this season, following its 28-point win over Penn State.

But just think – this whole thing was planned by Ohio State’s head football coach, himself. Meyer – a three-time national champion coach – has been there before. He’s attempted unsuccessfully to win back-to-back titles on two separate occasions. He knows the trials and tribulations that take a toll on players and coaches as they strive to sustain win streaks, appeal to voters by accumulating “style points”, and the complacency that can set in when a talented team begins to view winning as “another day at the office,” in stead of savoring the sweet taste of each victory.

With those challenges in mind – and knowing that Buckeyes program thrives in an underdog role – it is clear that Meyer made it his mission to self-inflict as much adversity into the team as possible. Building upon all the off-season discussion on quarterback battle – which seemingly placed OSU in the most fortunate position in college football history – Meyer opted to shake things up. By implementing a game plan that resulted in Ohio State’s offense sputtering inconsistently, instead of flourishing like a fine-oiled machine, he helped paint a national perception of doubt. Especially during a time that arch rival Michigan has been bursting back onto the national scene much faster than anticipated under Jim Harbaugh, Meyer manufactured a sense of mockery, an ability for this “unstoppable force” to be on the receiving end of snide remarks by analysts and rival fans.

Meyer knows that it is incredibly difficult for a championship-winning team that returns that much talent, and carries that much expectations, to stay hungry for the duration of 15-game season. He also knows that any good team, in any sport, aims to peak later in the season instead of early in the season. Knowing that Ohio State is blessed with a position where they can win each game – no matter how ugly – and still advance to the playoffs, Meyer chose to play in such a way that the Buckeyes would peak in Weeks 11-15, not in Weeks 5-9. So instead of opening the season with our read option offense and risking potential injuries to J.T. Barrett, who was recovering from a fractured ankle, we created a storyline about our offense abandoning the read-option staple of our offense and played Cardale Jones instead. Masked under another storyline of J.T. “failing to beat out Jones for the starting role”, Meyer made analysts and fans believe that he had indeed changed his core offensive philosophy. This also created doubt and sparked his own competitive fire, as people suddenly began questioning his decision making skills and ego.

Now, as the Buckeyes enter the second half of the season and begin tuning up for the important stretch of games in November and beyond, the momentum is beginning to shift back into the positive direction. First, Barrett was able to “prove himself” as a red zone specialist. Then, he’s able to give Buckeye nation a taste of how successful and fluid the OSU offense can be with him in the backfield on a regular basis. After igniting an offense that had otherwise been stagnant, Barrett has reopened the quarterback discussion – all while Meyer and offensive coordinator Ed Warriner make it seem that just aren’t ready to name Barrett the starter.

It’s all been a masterfully brilliant way to navigate the Buckeyes through the first seven games of the season. Now, after all the doubt and criticism, look for Ohio State to suddenly hit second gear, en route to hitting full stride in time for consecutive showdowns with Michigan State and Michigan. From here on out, Ohio State will emphatically transform all those question marks into exclamation points. You can count on it – because Meyer has scripted it that way. Enjoy the fireworks show.

There has been a lot of talk so far this year about the AP rankings and whether they are fair or not fair. The funny thing about all this talk is that the rankings really mean nothing. The only rankings that matter  are the playoff rankings that come out later in the season. So these rankings mean nothing. So this article means nothing…but let’s do it anyway.

1: Ohio State- This team is so confusing right now. They should be crushing every team they run into but every game they seem to struggle with pulling away. However, they stay number one because the only other team that has shown number one capabilities is Baylor, and the schedule they have played is weaker than Ohio States.

2: Baylor- This team has been absolutely dominant this year. Led by Corey Coleman and Seth Russell, the offense has averaged almost 64 points per game, which is just ridiculous. The only reason they are not number one is the teams they have faced. The have some games coming up against Oklahoma and TCU which will decide whether they are the best team in the league or not

3: Utah- This is the surprise team to me. I knew they would be good coming into the year, but I had no idea how good they would be. They have one of the best players in the league, one of the best defenses, and overall one of the best teams. If they keep playing like they have been, they will easily be a playoff team and title contender,

4: LSU- I picked LSU to win the SEC before the season started, and they are making that prediction look very good. They have had a great year that is largely in part to Leonard Fournette, who is right now the best player in the league. As long as Brandon Harris plays well enough to make this a 2 dimensional team, they will be truly a scary team to play

5: TCU- TCU and Michigan State have run into the same issue; they keep winning, but keep falling down the polls. TCU has won and are still undefeated, but they have struggled in doing so, mainly on the defensive side. They have some tough tests coming up, so we will see if this is just a phase or if they actually are overrated.

Close but not quite

6: Michigan State

7: Clemson

8: Alabama

9: Stanford

10: Florida State

Dark horses

-Iowa

-Oklahoma State

-Memphis

Before we get started here, I just want to point out how extremely awesome the atmosphere was at The Shoe this past Saturday night. I was lucky enough to be given a ticket to the game and man was it awesome. There is just something about a night game in The Shoe that is special. If you have never been able to make it to one I highly suggest that you find a way to make it happen in the near future; you won’t regret it. Also while we are on the topic of pure awesomeness, those uni’s where SICK. I understand some of you had your undies in a bunch over the Buckeyes not wearing their traditional colors, but your’re going to have to get over it…… It’s 2015. Tradition is great but every once and a while it doesn’t hurt to switch things up a little bit. Not to mention the players loved them and got all jacked up to wear them so ,in my opinion, there is not a single negative to these jerseys. Embrace change people; evolve or die!

Now to the topic that I’m suppose to be writing about. The topic that every writer that writes for the Buckeyes has talked about at nausium the past few months: who is our starting QB. Well folks if you watched the game at all on Saturday I thing that question got answered. JT Barrett came into the game when Cardale was struggling to get anything going for the OSU offense, and it seemed like from the moment he stepped on the field the team was his. JT accounted for 4 total TD’s and over 100 yards of offense. This is all while playing about half the game. Not to mention that he is now a perfect 12 for 12 in the red zone in the last 2 games. That is simply incredible considering that Cardale has been terrible in the same state line. It’s interesting that just 2 or 3 weeks ago I wrote a post about how everyone needed to relax and to trust Urban to do what was best for the team, and if that means starting Cardale then so be it, but after Saturday there is no ground to stand on in the defense of Jones. When JT is in the game it just feels like things are in control and the right guy is leading this team. The stat  line does nothing but support that argument. I also think that JT is about at the end of his road when it comes to being named the starter. I think he really feels that he is the better choice at this point and he is such a competitor that he wants the ball any chance he gets.

The one issue I’m having with all of this is that I really thought it would be an easy decision for the coaching staff to make. I thought that even in the post game interview Urban would name JT the starter, but that did not happen. Hopefully once they are able to watch the film it is clear to the staff that JT is the guy and that it’s his team to lead!

It’s the halfway point of the regular season for most Big Ten teams, and the East division has settled into two tiers, comprised of exactly the teams everyone expected when the new format was introduced prior to last season. Ohio State and Michigan are joined by Michigan State and Penn State at the top of what could turn out to be the toughest single division in college football. Today is the first of three weekends this season where these four teams will be playing each other. The second and third rounds will close out the regular season, so while today’s winners will get an early jump on the division title, there will be plenty of time for the losers to get back into the race.

The big story of the first half of the season has been Michigan’s defense. The unit has posted three consecutive shutouts and is in the top 3 nationally in every defensive category, including #1 in scoring. The Wolverines seem to be putting all of their eggs in the defensive basket, as their offense doesn’t even crack the top 30 in any category. Since a disastrous three-interception performance in the opener at Utah, QB Jake Rudock throwing the ball has essentially been erased from the offensive game plan. Rudock has scored just 3 of the team’s 18 offensive touchdowns since the Utah game through the air, while he’s added another 3 on the ground.

For Ohio State, the storyline of the first six games was unsurprising: the quarterback situation. Urban Meyer faced constant criticism over his handling of the Buckeyes’ two top-notch talents, but finally seemed to settle into a solution last Saturday against Maryland. By inserting J. T. Barrett as a red-zone specialist, Meyer simultaneously found a suitable way to feature both QBs and shore up Ohio State’s ineffectiveness inside the 20-yard line, scoring touchdowns on all six opportunities. It would be surprising if this approach didn’t continue for the remainder of the season, and it may be the key to returning the offense to the explosive level they achieved last year.

This afternoon, Michigan hosts Michigan State, a rivalry that has been just as lopsided as The Game over the past seven years, with the Wolverines snagging just one victory in that span. The Spartans are undefeated but also play the underdog role in this game, which gives the match up an interesting twist. To this point in the season, Michigan has been playing with house money, but now they will see how things feel on the other side of the table. One of the reasons Michigan State was able to wrest control of the rivalry from the Wolverines in the first place was Coach Dantonio’s ability to fuel his players’ fire with the shoulder-chip of disrespect (whether real or manufactured). It must bring a smile to his stone face to be able to play that same card while still on top.

Tonight, Penn State visits Ohio State, and the Nittany Lions’ story has been similar to (albeit not as impressive as) Michigan’s. After an opening road loss to the currently undefeated Temple Owls, Penn State has rallied to win their last five games. All of those wins were in the comfort of their home stadium, however, and they won’t have that luxury tonight. The last time the Lions beat an Ohio State team ranked higher than them was in 2005 in State College. They have never won when the Buckeyes were ranked #1.

Nick Bosa

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Jonathon Cooper

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Drue Chrisman

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A revenge seeking Penn State program visits the Buckeyes this Saturday for a much anticipated 8 p.m. night game. The Nittany Lions come into this game 5-1 overall, and 2-0 in the Big Ten. Meanwhile, Ohio State heads into the prime-time showdown 6-0 overall, and 2-0 in the Big Ten.

The top-ranked Buckeyes will have their hands full with this Penn State team. It was only a few months ago where many of us were looking at the schedule and believing Penn State would come into this game undefeated. After suffering a tough loss to Temple in week one, the Nittany Lions find themselves on a five game winning streak heading into Columbus.

Although the Buckeyes are a 17 point favorite, this will not be an easy game for the team. Penn State gave the Buckeyes a nail-bitter last season, bringing the game to double-overtime. We all remember those favorable calls Ohio State got too. The Nittany Lions are seeking revenge and hope to ruin the Buckeye’s first ever “Black Out”.

With both teams undefeated in Big Ten play, there is a lot at stake. The Buckeyes look to continue their undefeated season in hopes for another successful playoff push. Penn State looks to show the country that despite their week one loss, they are under looked in not only the Big Ten, but as a playoff contender.

Keys for Ohio State:

Limit Turnovers:

Quarterback Cardale Jones comes into this game with five interceptions. If Jones can keep the ball out of the defenses’ hands, the offense can find more opportunities to put the ball in the end-zone. If the offense can limit those big interceptions and fumbles, it gives them a much greater opportunity to put big points on the board, and keep the crowd in the game. Penn State’s defense averages two turnovers a game, which is among the top in the country.

Find Red-Zone Success:

Heading into last week’s Maryland game, the Buckeyes struggled to find touchdowns in the red-zone. The offense was able to score six touchdowns coming from the red-zone against Maryland. Before that, they found just six in their first five games alone. The good news is it looks as if the offense has found it’s success in JT Barrett last week. Barrett was a huge key in helping the Buckeyes match their season total with touchdowns scored inside the red-zone last week.

Keys for Penn State:

Continue Playing Strong Defense:

After holding Indiana to just 234 yards last week, the PSU defense is coming into this game with some momentum. If they want a chance to win this game they will need to come up with some turnovers that lead to points. It isn’t easy stopping the powerful running game the Buckeyes bring each game.

Control The Crowd:

A “Black Out” in the shoe has been in discussion for a couple years now. Buckeye fans can finally experience the first ever “Black Out” in Ohio Stadium. There is no question the crowd will be hyped up for kickoff. This poses a big threat to Penn State. If they want to seek composure early on they need to grab quick momentum.

This is a huge night game for both teams. Penn State has momentum, but Coach Meyer seems to always find a way to win the big Big Ten regular season games. Look for Ohio State to stress a well played 1st half. If they can do that, they should handle the Nittany Lions. Prediction: Ohio State 35 Penn State 14.